Two Front War
by Tainted Griffin
Summary: Laura Naitor is a witch currently attending Hogwarts. Shopping in Mission City became dangerous when giant alien robots started attacking. Now involved in their war, she goes to school to find another one starting against a certain Professor Umbridge.
1. Chapter 1

The young woman sat in the metal chair, grey eyes focusing somewhere on the table in front of her. Her blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail, but a few strands still managed to get into her face. The contrast between her tanned skin and the silver metal made her look darker than she was. The room dwarfed her slim body and her angled features gave her a haughty air.

She twirled her wand idly. It had been a fight to keep it, but she had eventually convinced them that a stick wasn't much use as a weapon. It was times like these that she was glad that the Ministry kept their existence secret. Of course, if the Muggles knew she was a witch, she might not be in this mess.

She wasn't quite sure how she was in such a mess. She had been in Mission City shopping for a nice pair of jeans when giant robots started fighting. Missiles and bullets were flying everywhere and people were screaming and dying. There was terror and chaos all around.

So, she had whipped out her wand and started firing off spells and screaming at the attackers. They paid no attention to her until she started using Bombarda and Reducto. That got their attention fast enough. Apparently, it also got the attention of the American military.

Now, she was in an interrogation room waiting for some Muggle to find out what she was all about. At least, that's what the Muggles thought. She was actually waiting for an Auror to appear and put her on trial for the Use of Underage Magic and for the Use of Magic in Front of Muggles. Hefty charges. Her defense was that she was protecting herself and others from the certain death.

Hopefully, it would be enough. She could be expelled from Hogwarts for this and her wand would be snapped. At the thought of that, she glanced down at her wand. She didn't know what she would do without magic.

The metal door opened and she looked up. She was almost disappointed to see more military men walk in instead of Ministry officials. Behind the military man came the American Secretary of Defense, John Keller. Her eyebrows rose, but she kept silent. Her wand twirled a bit faster.

"Do you know why you're here?" Secretary Keller asked. Two more soldiers wandered in after him, one white and the other black. The first man stood at attention next to the door. She supposed the soldiers were there so she didn't start attacking.

"No clue," she said. She didn't know she could be arrested for waving a stick and cursing at giant robots. She learned something new every day.

"The hell you don't." She glanced at the black soldier. She hadn't thought he had the authority to give an opinion.

"As I see it, I was arrested for being insane. And I wasn't read my Mirada rights, so I don't have to tell you anything." She glanced at Secretary Keller when she answered.

"What are you really?" the other soldier asked. Now that she looked, she could see that they had more medals than the door guard.

"What do you mean?" Did they know she was a witch?

"You were having some sort of effect on the robots and I want to know how," Secretary Keller said. She glanced around.

"I don't have to tell you shit." The three men exchanged looks.

"What's your name?" asked the white soldier.

"What's yours?" she asked.

"I am Major Lennox, this is Commander Epps, and this the Secretary of Defense-"

"John Keller. I do keep up with current politics, to an extent."

"Your name?" Commander Epps said.

"Laura Naitor."

"Ms. Naitor, what are you?" Major Lenox asked. Laura sighed.

"I still don't understand your question."

"What planet are you from?" asked Secretary Keller. She stared at him.

"Earth. Look I don't know what's going on here, but am I under arrest? Or is this some sort of government conspiracy or something?" Laura said.

"What species are you?" Secretary Keller asked.

"Human. I still don't see where this is going."

"What do you know about aliens?" Major Lennox asked.

"Absolutely nothing."

"Then how were you having an effect on the robots when guns and missiles weren't doing much?" Commander Epps asked.

"I don't have to tell you anything. And I still haven't been read my rights."

"You aren't under arrest, Ms. Naitor," said Major Lennox.

"Then I'm free to go?"

"Not quite."

"Look, I don't know anything. I have no idea what you want from me, but all I know was that those robots were killing people. If anything, I should be asking _you_ questions! What were they and what were they doing trashing Mission City?"

The door banged open when she finished, surprising everyone in the room. A man in purple robes walked in and Laura smiled.

"Professor Dumbledore, I didn't know you were in charge of apprehending miscreants." Professor Dumbledore smiled at her.

"Normally, I am not. However, I deemed that this was something that required my attention."

"Who are you?" Secretary Keller asked. The soldier at the door tried to grab the Professor's arm, but he pulled away.

"I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now, Ms. Naitor, if you would?" He held out his arm and Laura stood and moved to take it.

"Hold on! What do you think you're doing?" Secretary Keller said as he moved to stop them.

"Side-along Apparation?"

"Indeed. Hold on tight."

"Yes, sir." The room was in an uproar as they Disapparated. Laura would have smiled if not for the unpleasant experience that was Apparating.

"Ms. Naitor, I hope you realize the seriousness of what you have done." Laura a nod, her eyes glued to her feet.

"Yes, sir."

"Come along, then. Let's get you settled in." Settled in where? She looked up to see where she was. They were at the gates of Hogwarts, it being impossible to actually Apparate into Hogwarts itself. She smiled as they walked up the drive to the castle. She was home.

It was a week till school started. Laura had mail-ordered her books and supplies a few days before and was expecting them soon. She was in the owlry, admiring the birds. A few greeted her, others ignored her. In her hand was a letter.

One of the owls soared over to her and stuck out its leg. She had been sending messages with this particular owl a lot and it was now used to her. She tied the letter to its leg and it took off. As the owl flew away, Laura had one last glance at the name on the letter: Major Lennox.


	2. Chapter 2

The Ravenclaw Common Room was lonely with just her in it. The House ghost would talk with her, but she didn't wasn't around a lot and it just wasn't the same. The only thing good about being there alone was that she could sit on the comfy couch, reading, without being disturbed. She also got the bed she wanted, for once. Usually, she came in too late to get the space next to the window, but there was no one to fight over it this time.

The house elves were extremely helpful. She didn't want to walk all the way to the library for a book on charms, so she would just call a house elf and send it. She would eat a lot because she was bored, but didn't want to walk down to the kitchens. She just called a house elf and it would bring her tea and something sweet. The place would be a wreck if the house elves didn't come behind her and pick up her mess. She didn't feel guilty, though, because they were ecstatic that she was giving them so much work.

Not to say that she spent all her time in the Common Room. Dinner was spent in the Great Hall with the staff. Mornings were spent by the lake, under the shade of trees. Afternoons were spent in the Room of Requirement, a wonderful room the house elves had shown her when she had complained about not having what she needed to practice her spell work. Evenings were when she relaxed in the Common Room, in the most coveted seats.

Unfortunately, school was drawing ever nearer and Laura dreaded the time when she would have to say goodbye to her days of tranquility. The house elves assured her that they would still be more than happy to wait on her as they were doing now, but she would still have to actually do _work_ and be social with the most irritating people. Hogwarts may have felt empty without students everywhere, but she knew she would miss the emptiness when there were people everywhere.

Finally, the last night of solitude came and Laura went down to the Great Hall for dinner. It would be the last time she would eat at the staff's table; tomorrow night, she would be eating at the student table. She went to her seat at the end, next to Professor Flitwick, and waited for everyone to arrive and the food to appear.

"Professor, I managed to do the Summoning Spell today," Laura said.

"Well done! Most don't learn that until their seventh year," he said. "Maybe I should start giving you extra work during the year." Laura made a face.

"Please don't. I'll have all the other class work to do! Right now, there isn't anything else to do, so I can get more practice done."

"Yes, yes, I know. Still, you're going to do beautifully on the exam!"

"Exams, yuck!" They both laughed at that, and Professor Snape, sitting on the other side of Professor Flitwick, gave them a dirty look. He didn't say anything, but Laura knew he didn't like her. He didn't like any student except for those in Slytherin.

The food appeared and Laura stopped talking in favor of eating and listening. The things people said when they didn't realize she was right there, listening, were the most interesting. All the professors were talking to each other, so there were a lot of conversations to choose from. Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Trelawney were discussing the Ministry. Professor Snape was talking quietly with a professor she didn't have about the Dark Lord.

There were other conversations, but those were the ones she was listening to. According to Professor Dumbledore and his group, the Ministry was refusing to admit the Dark Lord was back and that Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, was being persecuted because of it. Apparently, Professor Dumbledore was being either called a senile old fool or a conniving old man. She didn't quite understand how those two views were compatible.

Professor Snape was talking about how the Dark Lord's rising would affect the Wizarding World. With the Death Eaters showing such disregard toward the Muggles, the non-magical population would surely discover the witches and wizards. He also thought the Dark Lord wasn't even getting warmed up for what he was really planning.

She kept her mouth shut and listened. The famous Harry Potter was now the infamous Harry Potter. Funny how that happened. She herself didn't receive the Daily Prophet, so the only information she was getting was what she was hearing at the dinner table. And that was that the Dark Lord was back.

If she was in the same House as Potter, maybe she would help support him. As it was, he was in Gryffindor and she was in Ravenclaw. She also didn't want to be involved in the drama of the whole thing; it was more amusing to watch than participate. Perhaps she would send a house elf over to… do something nice. Like deliver dessert or something.

Yeah, she'd do that. It wouldn't be hard. All she had to do was tell the house elves that he needed a pick-me-up sort of dessert and they would take care of the rest. She even knew which house elf to send…


	3. Chapter 3

Breakfast came far too early the next day. That night was the Welcoming Feast for the students and Laura fully intended to enjoy her remaining time. She had already ordered breakfast to be brought to the Common Room, a habit she didn't think she wanted break when school started. She was almost finished with the grits when an owl screeched outside of the window. Looking up, she saw it was the same owl she had sent out a week before to America.

She quickly got up and let it in. It landed on the back of one of the chairs and held out its leg with a letter attached. Grabbing a piece of bacon, she gave it to the owl before removing the letter. It was a regular envelope used for the Muggle post, except it only had her name on the front. She fed the owl another piece of bacon before she sat down to read the letter.

The handwriting wasn't the messiest she had ever seen, as it was still legible, but she pitied the person who had to suffer through this sort of thing every day. She quickly ripped the envelope open to get at the letter and smiled as she unfolded the paper.

Ms. Naitor,

How in the world does an _owl_ deliver messages? Where are you, anyway? Your letter didn't answer any of my questions. You did that on purpose, I know it.

You left before we could give you the paperwork you needed to fill out. I'll send it to you with my next letter when you send the owl back. The whole Mission City thing is under wraps. You are not allowed to tell anyone anything about it. Don't even tell anyone you were there.

The robots weren't made by gremlins. Sorry. They're from another planet and were waging war in the city. I'll admit, that wasn't one of our brightest ideas. The ones with the red eyes were trying to destroy mankind and the ones with blue eyes were trying to save us.

Next time you see a blue-eyed robot, don't try to kill it. They don't appreciate it as much as you think they would.

But really, how does an owl deliver mail?!

-Major Lennox, Commanding Officer of N.E.S.T.

Laura grinned and folded the letter in half; she would definitely be keeping this. The owl hooted, getting her attention. It didn't look like it was in awful condition, so she assumed it had taken its time. Not that she blamed it; it had just flown from Scotland to America.

"Good owl, you did so well. You're so good at this! I'll give you a day before I need to send a letter back to him and then another to my parents. I'll send them with you at the same time so you don't have to make two trips," she said as she petted it. It nipped at her fingers a bit and she smiled. "Alright, I've got to get started for the day. Stay or not, as it pleases you."

The owl hooted once more before taking off and flying out the window. Laura left the Common Room as well and stood in the corridor.

"Where do I want to go today? Last day of freedom, make it count. Hm…The lake! I'll go swimming! Brilliant idea, we're so smart." She dashed back inside and ran to her trunk in the girls' dorm. At the bottom her luggage sat her bikini where she had thrown in when packing.

It was a decent brown thing; she didn't fall out of it when swimming. She put it on and made sure to grab a towel. She stopped in the doorway, deliberating, before going back to her trunk and throwing on an over-shirt. She didn't want to meet Professor Snape in the hall while she was half-naked. He would either stare or give her a detention. She was leaning more toward the detention possibility, knowing the Professor.

The midmorning sun was blinding and Laura had to squint her eyes against the glare. It was warm with a breeze and the lake sparkled. Her smile widened and she ran to the lakeshore, slowing to find the perfect spot to settle. She finally found it: a grassy piece with no roots or sticks or water.

She spread out her towel, threw her shirt on it, and splashed into the lake. The water was slightly cold and the wind coming off it smelled of fresh water. She laughed as she fell into the water, lying on her back. She flipped on her stomach and put her head underwater. And Mom said that it would be too cold to swim this far up north!

It was a while before she got out of the water, finished playing. The sun was higher in the sky, but she didn't know if it was noon or anything; she was never able to tell the time from the sun, those lying tree-huggers.

She made her way over to her towel and shoved her shirt off it. As she lay down, it was promptly soaked, but she didn't care. Towels were made to get wet. The sun was hot and she sighed, a small smile on her face. Her arm was thrown over her eyes and her other hand rested on her stomach.


	4. Chapter 4

It wasn't until the air began to cool that she woke up. She hadn't even realized she had been sleeping. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and tried to figure out what was going on. The sun was much lower than it had been when she had started to sunbathe and she winced when she saw the sunburn.

Ah, well. She would just ask a house elf for some lotion and then-

"The feast!" She jumped up, hastily grabbed her things, and ran to the castle. When she got to the castle, she walked as fast as she could to the Ravenclaw tower and hurriedly answered the riddle.

"Winky!" A crack sounded and Laura spun to see the house elf. "Winky, I need some lotion for my sunburn. Oh, and what time is it?"

"It's five thirty, mistress," Winky said.

"What time is the feast?"

"The sorting starts at seven, mistress."

"Alright, thank you. Lotion?"

"Yes, mistress." Winky was absolutely beaming as she Disapparated. Laura dropped onto the couch, sighing. The couch was soft and the air was warm and smelled of… home. She tilted her head. Home. _Home is where the heart is…_ Perhaps she really did belong here, not just the school, but the Wizarding world in general.

She didn't have much time to ponder that thought because Winky had reappeared with a bottle of lotion in her hand. She smiled at the house elf and nodded in approval as she took the lotion and began to apply it. Winky's face lit up and she bowed before leaving again.

The burn hadn't had much time to really start hurting yet and Laura hoped that the lotion would make it heal faster. It would be a little embarrassing to show up at the feast sunburned, but at least she had enjoyed her day. Sleeping was always a great way to spend an afternoon.

Which reminded her… She snapped her fingers and a crack was heard once again.

"Yes, mistress?" Winky asked.

"Can you bring me something to eat? I missed lunch. Nothing too big, I still have to go to the feast in a few hours."

"Yes, mistress!" She shook her head. That house elf was way too happy about being bossed around. Then again, it was better than Winky had been in the beginning. Always crying and moaning. Putting her to work had been a great idea, both for Winky and Laura.

After rubbing the lotion in, she went to the dorm to change into her school robes; no need to be rushed at the last minute. Her school robes were at the bottom of her trunk, textbooks and other school supplies having been thrown on top of them. She grabbed them and threw them on, or tried to. She hadn't bothered to see if last year's uniform had fit and so hadn't bothered to order a new one.

She stared at it for a moment, at a loss of what to do, before the solution hit her in the face. She hit herself in the forehead for ever buying new clothes, despite that she hadn't known how to perform a tailoring charm before that summer. Well, this would certainly save her a lot of money in the future.

"Novus amplitudo," she said, pointing her wand at her clothes. They instantly began to change size, growing slightly larger. Laura waited until they had stopped changing shape before putting them on. They adjusted a bit more to fit her better and then stopped entirely. She nodded and took a look at her trunk.

It was an absolute mess with books, quills, parchment, and clothes everywhere. There was no order, though she was sure there had been when she had packed the darn thing. Of course, throwing everything in as she got it hadn't been the best way to stay organized. It was a shame she didn't learn any cleaning charms. She would have to look into learning some of those.

Stopping and thinking for a moment, she decided she would clean later. She left the dorm and made her way down the stairs, her eyes on her feet and her hand on the banister. When she looked up, she saw that there was a tray of sandwiches on one of the study tables.

She ran the rest of the way to the table and opened a sandwich after dropping into the chair. It was ham and cheese, just how she liked it. She took a bite and hummed a bit. The rest of the sandwiches didn't stand a chance.


	5. Chapter 5

She spent the rest of the afternoon reading a book about Greek mythology. She didn't get far, as she only had an hour to read, but she was pleased with what she did. She knew most of the mythology anyway, but it was always fun to actually _read_ it instead of remember.

A few minutes to seven, she arrived in the Great Hall and managed to lose herself in the crowd of arriving students. It would not be good if they realized that she hadn't come on the train with them.

The Ravenclaw table was filling up and Laura knew she wouldn't be able to find her friends in this. She sat in the first empty chair she touched and smirked when the person next to her complained of hunger. Winky would be pleased to hear that she wasn't hungry like everyone else because of her sandwiches.

The students finally settled down and, after the usual announcement, Professor McGonagall led the new First Years in to be sorted. Like everyone else, Laura craned her head to get a good look at the new kids. Most looked nervous and a few looked confident. The purebloods were always recognizable because they looked like they knew exactly what was happening.

Those usually ended up in Slytherin anyway because the pureblooded families were only ever for "keeping the blood clean." She herself had been one of those terrified kids, Muggle-born and totally unaware that the upperclassmen were kidding about the troll. Of course, she was now guilty of being one of those upperclassmen who preached the ogre was the new sorting technique because the troll got old.

The sorting went the same as it did every year, some sorted instantly and others taking minutes. The sorting hat had taken a while to sort her, the choice between Slytherin and Ravenclaw. She was in Ravenclaw because she was too lazy to be ambitious. Oh shucks, what a shame, roommates she could actually trust most of the time.

Ravenclaw may be the House of the cunning and intelligent, but with intelligence came a sort of peace and with cunning came a dark streak that would take them far in life. Slytherin was the House everyone saw as cunning and evil, but it was merely the House of the sly and the ambitious. A fine line ran between all the Houses, personality traits appearing in all of them, not just one House.

Like all the people around her, she was more interested in the Feast than the sorting. It didn't matter that she had already eaten, it was the principle of the matter. The sorting never did hold her attention because she would never see these people again anyway and, if she did, they would introduce themselves to her. The professors always looked like they cared, but she suspected that was because they were paid to.

The entire sorting took a bit less than 45 minutes and the boy next to Laura kept acting like he was about to fall over. She snickered at him and mimed eating. He glared at her, getting the message that she had been smart enough to eat beforehand. They mimed at each other a bit longer before Professor Dumbledore finally stood up and gave his customary speech to start off the year. Only, he had just begun talking when a new teacher stood up and interrupted him with a cough.

Everyone looked at each other. Did that woman really just interrupt the headmaster? The new teacher introduced herself as Professor Umbridge and delivered a long speech in a condescending tone. She was saying something about progress, but students didn't get into Ravenclaw by taking things at face value. Nearly the whole House was glaring at her halfway through and were glancing at each other to see if this was really happening. They could hear the message in the speech, even if the other Houses didn't. The Ministry was taking over Hogwarts.

Dumbledore stood up, finished his speech, and then announced that it was time to eat. The food appeared on the tables by magic and everyone began to dig in. The Ravenclaws settled down enough to resume their normal Feast behavior, which was eating and enjoying the company, but none of them forgot what Professor Umbridge said.

Laura and the boy would be mucking about as before, but they were both too absorbed in the food. The house elves had clearly found where she was sitting because instead of the normal pitcher of pumpkin juice, there was a pitcher of un-sweet ice tea. She poured herself a glass of it and grabbed the dish of macaroni and cheese as well as a biscuit before they all disappeared. She looked at the biscuit for a moment before shrugging and dipping it in her tea.

Her neighbors gave her a few weird looks, but left her alone. As her Housemates, they knew better than anyone about her quirks. They manifested themselves regularly in the Common Room in the form of a turn of a phrase or an American classic. It was nothing drastic and they all had their differences that they had accepted long ago.

It gradually became louder and louder in the Great Hall as the new first years began to get comfortable. The food was as better than usual; the house elves were trying to impress the new kids. The sky was a clear night sky and the air in the Hall smelled heavenly. The Feast was the one of the only times dinner was a big deal, so there was more to-do with the courses and layout. Normally it was set up buffet style; take what you please and move on to dessert.

As they ate to the bursting point, the younger children became sleepy and the older ones could see that the Feast would end soon. It wasn't anything new and they would hold back-to-school parties when they got to their respective Common Rooms. It was one of the reasons she always slept on the train and this time she had had even _more_ sleep.

The Feast ended a while later, the sky overhead cloudier than that afternoon, and the prefects were yelling for the First Years. Laura ignored them, left the Great Hall, and made her way to her House. She couldn't wait until the party started; last year, a Seventh Year managed to sneak in Firewhisky.

She was one of the first to the Common Room and the first to make it to her dorm. She changed out of her robes to the clothes she had been wearing that morning; the clothes had been on her bed and her trunk was in too much disarray to hunt for something else. The trunk was really getting out of hand, she thought. If the mess got any worse, it may as well come to life and start eating people.

Instead of immediately leaving the room, Laura sat on her bed and faced the window. There was no point and going down now as the party wouldn't start until the First Years went to bed. In the mean time, the sky really was beautiful with the moon and stars shining through the rolling clouds.

The silencing spell was one of the best spells. It had been forgotten one year and it had never been forgotten again. The amount of noise in the Common Room was deafening between the music and people, plus the occasional scream. No one had been able to sneak in Firewhisky this year, but someone had convinced the house elves to bring up butterbeer and snack foods. A few were in the crowd, serving drinks and food to whoever may want it.

Everyone was in casual clothes and the lookouts were changed every hour. Laura had served as a lookout in the beginning, keeping an eye out for Mr. Filch and Professor Flitwick, so she could enjoy the best part of the party. No one showed signs of winding down and it was nearly one in the morning. It was one of the few parties of the year and no one wanted to miss out.

Laura had found her friends and they were in their own spot, taking a break from the crowd. They made elaborate hand-gestures instead of trying to shout over the noise. Laura dived back into the crowd with one of the guys in tow and they began to dance to the music and sucking other people in with them. It wasn't even a real dance, just what looked like organized flailing. It was fun, though, and everyone in that group were laughing before they floated off, still laughing.

Around two, Laura made her way to her dorm. The sound stopped as soon as she closed the door and she closed her eyes and enjoyed it for a moment before going to the bathroom, passing a few of her sleeping roommates. She brushed her teeth, washed her face, and used the toilet, then went to collapse on her bed.

"Dobby." She snapped her fingers. Immediately, there was a crack and the house elf appeared, mismatching socks and all.

"Yes, mistress?"

"In the morning, deliver a cup of hot chocolate to Mr. Potter."

"Yes, mistress! Dobby would be honored!"

"Oh, and tell Winky to wake me up at seven and deliver my breakfast at quarter-after. She'll know what I want."

"Of course, mistress. Dobby will tell Winky." Laura nodded and waved her hand at him even as she lay down. Another crack resounded around the room and she pulled the covers over herself and closed her eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

"Wake up, mistress. Mistress must wake up. It is seven in the morning. Winky is waking mistress up, just like mistress asked." Laura groaned and opened her eyes. The sun filtering in the closed curtains wasn't bright enough to burn her eyes, but there was enough light for her to see Winky. "Come, mistress, you must get up!"

"I don' wanna." She rolled over, but Winky started shaking her shoulder.

"Mistress must wake up!" Winky didn't stop shaking Laura and after a few minutes, she was awake enough to roll out of bed.

"Alright, I'm up, I'm up," she said. She walked/crawled to the bathroom. The door closed at the same time there was a crack in the bedroom. She got into the shower and sped through the routine. After getting out, she brushed her teeth, fixed her hair, and put her make-up on.

By the time she got out of the bathroom, the other girls were being woken by their alarm-spells. She went back to her things and began digging for clean robes to wear.

"My god, who did your trunk _eat_?" Laura turned to the other girl as she started into the mess.

"I'm not sure, but I think they're dead now."

"How is it your trunk manages to look like this and we haven't even been here a day?"

"It's a gift."

"And a curse."

"No, just a gift. No one will ever steal anything from me."

"Only because they wouldn't be able to find anything to steal!"

"My point exactly."

"Fio tersus," she said, waving her wand at the luggage. The contents immediately began to sort themselves into orderly piles and the clothes began to fold themselves. The dirty clothes were ejected from the trunk and landed in a neat pile just outside of it. Drawers opened, were filled or organized, and shut. For the first time since packing, Laura was organized.

"Teach me, Master Yoda."

"All in good time, my young padawon. First, you must learn the ways of the Force."

"I will be a good apprentice, master."

"You two are such dorks." They both turned to another of their roommates who was glaring at them.

"Yeah, well you're-"

"Winky has brought mistress breakfast!" Everyone in the room started at the house elf's sudden appearance. In Winky's hands was a tray laden with eggs, biscuits, sausages, and a cup of coffee.

"Thank you, Winky. Well done." Winky beamed and looked at her with adoring eyes.

"Hey, why do you have breakfast and we don't?" the second girl complained. Winky opened her mouth, but shut it when Laura glanced at her.

"Because she's my house elf and you weren't smart enough to ask any elves from the kitchen, Darlene." Darlene glared at Laura again and walked to the bathroom, slamming the door.

"Mistress, Winky works at Hogwarts."

"I know, but I don't like her and didn't want her to take you away from me."

"Laura, why _do_ you get to have the house elf serve you?"

"Because I've been at Hogwarts for a month or two now and the house elves love the work I'm giving them."

"Like breakfast in bed?"

"Like breakfast in bed. Sheryl, you want anything from the kitchen?"

"Yeah, can I get a plate of hash browns?"

"Yes, mistresses, Winky will bring it right up." Winky disappeared with the usual crack while Sheryl and Laura went back to getting dressed.

"But really, you have to teach me that spell."

"Tomorrow. You'll have your area in a wreck by then, so you can practice."

"Great, thanks."

"No problem." The two sat down on Laura's bed and waited for Winky to reappear with Sheryl's breakfast. Laura didn't feel the need to be polite for a breakfast-in-bed and started eating without Sheryl. She didn't feel too bad because Sheryl was stealing her biscuits.

"When do we get our schedules?" asked Laura.

"In the Great Hall, as soon as we're done here. We'll have to find Flitwick for them."

"Okay. These are really good eggs."

"The biscuits are better."

"I wouldn't know. You're eating them all."

"Not my fault you eat slow."

"Not my fault you're fat." Sheryl gave Laura a look and pointedly stared at her twig-like figure.

"Yes, because I'm so obese."

"It would explain where my food goes at dinner." Sheryl was about to respond, but Winky reappeared with a plate of hash browns and a cup of orange juice and another of milk.

"Winky didn't know what mistress would like to drink, so Winky brought two."

"Thank you, Winky, this is perfect," Sheryl said. Winky bowed before leaving the two of them to their breakfast. The appearance of the hash browns didn't stop Sheryl from eating the biscuits and moving on to the sausages. Laura was extremely glad there were eggs and coffee on the tray, as Sheryl would never touch those.

They sat there, eating and talking, for another half hour. A few times, they called Winky back up for something specific they wanted and the house elf fetched it for them. They didn't move even when the dorm emptied and they were alone. Laura finished her second cup of coffee just as they were leaving and put it on the floor next to the door before closing it.

"This was the best start to a year to date."

"Definitely. And you should have seen what I had to work with in the beginning."

"What do you mean?"

"Winky was a wreak. Turns out she was freed and came to Hogwarts. Was crying and moping all the time and wasn't taking care of herself. She's lucky I'm such a slob or I wouldn't be able to keep her busy enough to keep her mind off her former masters."

"And that is the only time anyone has ever been, is now, or ever shall be lucky you're a lazy bum."

"I'm enjoying the moment."

"I'll bet." The corridors were almost empty except for the ghosts and a few students.

"Where do you think Peeves is? Should he be tormenting us, two lonely girls with no help?"

"I don't think Peeves would have cared if we were in a group. Besides, there are more people to bother elsewhere. More targets in case someone dodges."

"True. Can we do this every morning?"

"Sure. And I'll ask Winky to wake you up, too."

"That'd be great."

"I know. Aren't I amazing?"

"Don't push it." They laughed as they finally made it to the Great Hall. People were leaving it to head to class and they had to shove their way in and to the teacher's table where Professor Flitwick was.

"Morning, Professor."

"Morning, Professor."

"Good morning, girls. Here are you're schedules. I didn't see you at breakfast today, Ms. Naitor," he said as he handed them the papers.

"I had the house elves deliver it to my dorm, sir."

"You really shouldn't do that."

"Sorry, sir, but they really seem to enjoy the added work."

"No doubt they do. Run along to your classes before you're late."

"Yes, sir."

"Yes, sir." The two girls left the table and headed for empty chairs at the end of the Ravenclaw table. They compared their schedules, made a few token complaints, and left for their first classes.


	7. Chapter 7

Laura put her head down on the desk. It was the last class before lunch and Professor Bins was doing an excellent job of making the History of Greek Magic a total bore. It was full of war, blood, policies, and law breakers. That alone should have made it the best subject offered, but Professor Bins always managed to make his classes the worst. Laura was convinced he did it on purpose.

When the bell rang, everyone began packing their bags as Professor Bins blinked his eyes and floated to his desk. Laura shot out of there and headed to the Great Hall for lunch before she felt something in her pocket. She snapped her fingers and changed direction, going to the owlry instead. She had a letter to send.

She was the only one not going to the Great Hall, so she didn't see anyone after a certain point. The owl she used before flew over to her and cocked its head. Laura pulled the letter out of her pocket and the owl held out its leg.

"Alright, I've only got the one for Major Lennox, so you don't have to worry about heading to my parents. Take your time, no rush." She attached the letter to the owl's leg. It hooted and pecked at fingers before taking off and soaring out the castle. Laura would have stayed to watch it, but she was hungry and did not want to miss lunch.

She almost ran all the way to the Great Hall, thinking of the food awaiting her. There were a few students in the hallways now, going into the direction of the grounds, the library, or their House. It had only been about fifteen minutes since lunch had started, but that was fifteen minutes less free time.

Laura sat in the open chair next to Sheryl and started grabbing food. Sheryl talked to her as Laura's plate filled and Laura talked back, regardless if her mouth was full or not. They were talking a mile-a-minute and laughed whenever someone asked them to repeat something slower.

The group they had been with at the party the night before surrounded them, each holding their own conversation. Randomly, people jumped from one conversation into the middle of another.

"What we really need to do is write down the first sentence of any conversation we join," Laura said. A few of the people nodded and one laughed.

"What would we do with it?" he asked. Laura shrugged.

"Hang it up on the wall or something." That drew more laughs.

"I want a copy!"

"You'll have to write it yourself 'cause my handwriting's awful."

"Sounds good to me." They smiled at each other before another girl changed the conversation and they were off again.

The bell rang too soon for the group and they did not hurry to get to class. Laura was going to the same class as a few others and they talked all the way to their first Defense Against the Dark Arts of the year.

"What do you think of Umbridge?"

"She needs watching. The Ministry in Hogwarts? We're a private school! They can't do this!"

"Actually, it's the government. It can do whatever it pleases, even if it has to pass laws to do it."

"What are we going to do about her?"

"Depends. What is her class like? What kind of progress are we looking at?"

"They aren't going to teach us the Dark Arts, Laura."

"The best offense is the best defense."

"Yeah, but when she said progress, the word 'censoring' came to mind."

"I agree with Devin. I don't think is going to be a good thing."

"So we're all Republicans here?" The group looked at Laura.

"What?"

"It's a political party in the United States. The Republicans are conservatives who believe the government should stay out of the everyday lives of people and businesses and there are the Democrats who are the liberals who believe the opposite."

"So this is a Democrat move?"

"Precisely." There was silence as they walked for a bit more.

"So, are Republicans good?"

"For the economy, yes. The Democrats screw it up by mucking about in places they should keep their noses out of." They had reached the classroom then and the discussion ended. They would see how things were before making a decision. Ravenclaw was a wise woman and it would be smart to follow her example.

The bell rang just after everyone was in their seats, wands on the desks, and textbooks to the side. Professor Umbridge stood up behind her desk. She fit in the room, with all the pink and kittens on plates. She was in pink robes with a ribbon in her hair. Laura saw Darlene shudder at the woman's choice in clothes and could see why. It didn't fit properly, that is to say, it didn't do what robes were supposed to; it covered her, but flattered the wrong aspects, such as her horrible figure and ill-done hair.

"Wands away, class." Professor Umbridge was using the same voice as she had the night before. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff felt united for the first time in a long time. They had a common enemy. This meant war.

The rest of the period was just as bad with only the assignment to read the book. The Ravenclaws didn't mind and was finished with the chapter quickly. The Hufflepuffs were having a much harder time. When a Ravenclaw leaned over to help his neighbor, Professor Umbridge reacted.

"What are you doing? Get back to work! Did you ask permission to ask a question?"

"Professor, he is having trouble with the chapter. I was just going to help him."

"If he has a question, he can ask _me_. I am the teacher." The Hufflepuff raised his hand. "Yes?"

"I don't understand this."

"Understand what?"

"The whole thing. This doesn't make sense."

"It is quite clear."

"But I don't know what it's saying."

"Then you will see me after class."

"Yes, Professor." Professor Umbridge resumed whatever she was doing and the class exchanged glances. The Ravenclaw who got caught looked over at the Hufflepuff and mouthed, "Don't". The Hufflepuff nodded back and no one said anything for the rest of class.


	8. Chapter 8

The Ravenclaw Common Room was in an uproar. Everyone was trying to talk over everyone else. Finally, one Seventh Year stepped forward and stood on a table. The people near him began to shout for everyone's attention.

"Alright! We know why we're here, but we need to decide what to do!"

"Decide? We ruin her!" someone called. There were nods and murmurs in the crowd and the boy held up his hands for silence. After they fell silent, he began to speak again.

"I propose an organized resistance. We don't want to get into too much trouble with the other teachers, but we need to get our point across."

"And I suppose _you _will lead us?" another person said.

"No, but we have to get organized. We are working with the Hufflepuffs on this. We don't need to have one leader, just one from Ravenclaw and one from Hufflepuff, so we can coordinate our moves."

"It sounds good, but I don't think they'll go along with this," Laura whispered to Sheryl.

"Yeah, but we have to do something."

"This is going to fall apart and leave only a few guerilla soldiers."

"Maybe not."

"Look around. Do you really think any of these people would risk an F or a detention? They're going to back down and you know it."

"If you think you can do better than him, then step up!"

"I will!" Laura pushed her way to the table where the boy was trying to play the crowd. She jumped onto the table with him.

"Look, people! I know over half of you want to tuck-tail and hang your head, but not this time! We have to stick together!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Shut up and listen! _I'm_ talking here, _not_ you! You don't have to burn anything or write on the walls, you can display passive resistance. It actually exists, folks, in America! We call it civil disobedience and all you have to do is make a stand. Don't put your wands away or don't read the chapter in class. We can teach ourselves the spells and practice them here! I'm sure Professor Flitwick will give us his room to teach the Hufflepuffs. That's all you have to do!

"All you have to do is teach each other and you're using civil disobedience. She doesn't want us to learn, so we'll teach! We're not hurting anything and if she asks, we're practicing Charms or Transfiguration. It won't even take much time because we always get drafted to tutor the Hufflepuffs anyway, so we can teach them Defense at the same time as the other classes. It's no skin off our backs and we're making a statement, even if we're the only ones that know it!" A few people cheered, but mostly they just turned to their neighbor and began to talk. Laura hoped they were at least talking about her speech.

"What are you doing? I nearly had them!" Laura jumped and turned to the boy.

"Oh, please. No one was actually going to do anything. You made it sound too dramatic. It was too idealistic; one brief flare of passion and then no one cares. I, at least, proposed a plan the wet-eared can participate in instead of making it a Gryffindorian endeavor."

"It was not a 'Gryffindorian' endeavor! It had cunning and-"

"It involved people putting themselves at risk. Who in this room do you really expect that from?"

"I know a few people!"

"But would it be enough?"

"Yes! I know what I'm doing."

"Alright, then." Laura shrugged and climbed off the table. Sheryl appeared at her right and Laura started a bit. "How did you get over here so fast?"

"Walked. Pretty good speech."

"He doesn't think so."

"He had the spotlight. Of course he thinks his was better." Laura flashed a grin and the two started to fight their way to the couches. There were only a few First Years there and that was easily remedied.

The two watched as the Ravenclaws discussed what they had heard and argued over what to do. A few times, it looked like a fight would break out, but a peacemaker would always turn up. The fire blazed, the people argued, and Laura sipped on her ice tea that a house elf had brought up for her.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day, Laura and Sheryl were woken by Winky and served breakfast in bed. Their first two periods went all right. Professor Trelawney had predicted a gruesome death for one of their classmates and Laura was sure she had seen the sign for good fortune in her tea dregs.

While Laura had a good time in Divination, Care of Magical Creatures was generally completely different. Professor Hagrid wasn't a great teacher and she just didn't like the creatures in general. They normally snarled, growled, or snapped at her.

"Cheer up, Laura, we've got a new teacher this year," Sheryl said.

"I know, but it's not just the teacher, it's the subject. I just don't like animals."

"You seem to get along fine with that owl."

"The owl is the only animal in years not to attack me. I don't like this class and I don't understand why this is a mandatory subject." They fell silent when the new professor held up her hand for silence.

"Alright class, my name is Professor Grubbly-Plank and I'll be teaching you Care of Magical Creatures. Today, you're going to learn about fairies." The girls in the class began to talk and Laura leaned forward.

"Fairies? What could we possible learn about fairies? They have wings and fly. Aren't they girly?" Draco Malfoy said. The Slytherins laughed, the Gryffindors in the class glared at him, and the Ravenclaws managed to look down their noses at him, despite that some of them were shorter.

"Fairies are _not_ girly! They are used in a number of healing potions and their wings are a rich magical resource," Hermione Granger said. Sometimes, Laura wondered what a know-it-all like her was doing in Gryffindor before remembering all the foolishness she involved herself in over their school years.

"Correct. Now, fairies are shy creatures, so I will teach you the appropriate way to approach them," said Professor Grubbly-Plank. She spilt the class into groups, mixing the Houses, and sent them into the enclosure of mesh. "Alright, walk slowing toward them and let them see your hands are empty."

Most of the boys snickered, but the girls seem enamored with the creatures. The fairies were small enough to fit into Laura's hand and they had brightly colored butterfly wings. They looked humanoid except that their faces had more corners and their coloring was off on both their skin and hair.

"The males are brighter than the females and are not as shy. Try to get close to one of those first. Once the others see that you are not dangerous they may let you get closer to them." Laura almost didn't hear her. It felt like a dream and the focus was on a female, orange winged fairy. She walked towards her with her hands spread and made eye contact with her.

"I thought you didn't like-"

"Not right now, Sheryl." Laura didn't stop until she was a foot from the fairy and kept eye contact. The fairy fluttered its wings, but didn't leave. Laura reached out her hand. Instead of taking off, the fairy flew over to hover over her open hand. Her eyes were wide as the fairy slowly descended to land on her.

"Told you this year would be better."

"Shut up, Sheryl." The fairy was light, Laura could feel almost nothing. She was also quick. Faster than Laura could see, she raced up to Laura's sleeve and grabbed the bread that was there before taking off and shooting to the far side of the enclosure with the other females. Sheryl burst out laughing.

"I told you animals hate me." Sheryl didn't stop laughing, no matter how much Laura glared at her.

The rest of the class went without any more hitches for Laura. She stood by the wall of the enclosure and watched the others try to charm the fairies. It was quite amusing to see a few boys try to grab a fairy with no success but amusing consequences; hair was being pulled and some of the boys were badly shaken by the time they stumbled out of the enclose.

It was after she left the enclosure that Laura was approached by a group of three Ravenclaws. They stopped just in front of her.

"What's up?" Laura asked. The boy in the middle took a breath.

"We want you to be in charge." Laura stared at him and Sheryl smile was so wide, her mouth looked like a banana.

"Wait, what?"

"We voted and decided we wanted you to be in charge of the Ravenclaws. We don't know who is in charge of Hufflepuff."

"Why _me_?"

"Because you made good points. You've got a plan. You know how to do this." Laura looked over at Sheryl, who shrugged and smiled. Laura narrowed her eyes at Sheryl.

"Alright. We should set up another meeting in the Common Room after I meet with the Hufflepuff leader." The other two Ravenclaws shifted a bit. "Would someone find out who that is for me?"

"I can ask around."

"That would be great, thanks." The group nodded and walked away. Sheryl began laughing while Laura hit her on the arm even as they started to run to their next class.


	10. Chapter 10

"I can't believe you didn't tell me." Laura sat down on her bed and started to twirl her wand. Sheryl sat beside her.

"I didn't know."

"Oh, please, with the way you were smiling?"

"I voted for you, but I didn't know you won."

"Wait, you _voted_? How did I not know this?"

"You were in the shower. We had to work fast."

"I'm not fast."

"There were a lot of people."

"So, how much did I win by?"

"Don't know, just know you did."

"And that is just so helpful."

"I try." Sheryl nudged Laura. "Cheer up. It's not that bad."

"Just like Care of Magical Creatures?"

"Nothing tried to attack you this year."

"No, but it did steal my food."

"You're not supposed to have food in class anyway."

"I forgot we had that class. I was saving it for History."

"You're still not supposed to have food."

"Professor Bins would never have noticed."

"You're missing the point."

"There was a point?" Sheryl sighed.

"Yes, Laura, there was a point."

"I don't see it."

"Don't matter 'cause it's still there." They were silent for a moment. Laura twirled her wand faster before slowing down.

"How did we end up on this subject?"

"I have no idea."

"Must not have been too important." Laura looked out the dark window. It was a clear night and Laura wondered if weather ever really had any kind of sense of events. In all the books she read, the weather matched the mood. In real life, it was different though. It might be in-tune with someone else, but not her. Never her. The sky was clear when the robots killed in Mission City. The sky was clear when people died.

"You okay?" Laura started a bit and her wand dropped to the floor.

"I'm fine." She leaned down and picked up the wand and paused.

The wand chose the witch, she knew, but they never chose Muggles. So, the magic must be in the person. Theoretically, the witch should be able to do magic without a wand. But how would a witch go about it?

"You alive?" Laura held up a hand and Sheryl fell silent. If she didn't have to be reliant on a wand, she wouldn't have to worry about it being out of reach, like in Mission City. If she could do magic without it, she could summon it to herself and use it without fumbling around. She could have saved a life by casting the Shield Charm without her wand, which had been a few feet away. She had only had time to save herself because her wand had been blown out of her hand and she had had to run for it.

"I have an idea."

"I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"Come on." Laura jumped up and headed out the dorm room. A few people acknowledged her as she walked through the Common Room and she nodded back as she left. "It's only a few corridors away."

"That makes me feel so much better."

"We have an hour before curfew."

"Yes, but you always manage to make us stay later than we should."

"Who said we were staying anywhere? I could be getting something."

"Because you'll find some way to keep us after curfew is all I'm saying." Laura shrugged and quickened her pace.

"Oh well." They chatted about homework assignments they had while they walked. In very little time, they reached the hallway to the Room of Requirement.

"What are we doing here?"

"Watch." Laura paced the hallway three times, thinking, _I need somewhere to practice, somewhere to train, somewhere to experiment._ After her third pass, the door appeared. It looked different every time she asked for something different. Instead of the huge oak doors that normally appeared with her practice area, there were willow doors that matched her wand.

"Now that is seriously cool. How did you find it?"

"You ain't seen nothing yet. Wait until you see what the inside is like." Laura led the way in. The room inside wasn't large, as she didn't need it to be, but it had a table and chairs. In the corner were her usual miscellaneous things that she practiced on, such as rocks, pillows, sticks, feathers, books, and other such things.

There was a book on the table, Laura noticed, and she didn't think she'd ever seen it before. She was sure she would have remembered a rainbow-covered, pony-prancing, fairy-infested book if she had ever even come within a mile of it. Laura picked it up and the title was Uncharted by Mary Price.

"What's that?" Sheryl leaned over Laura's shoulder to get a better look, though Laura couldn't figure out why she would want to do that.

"I don't know. I asked the Room for a place to test new spells and this is what it gave me." There was no summary on the back or on the inside flaps, just a short biography of the authoress, who had died experimenting with a new Transportation Spell. Laura paused for a moment on that sentence before flipping through the pages. "It's a book on experimental magic."

"Then put it down. People blow themselves up and worse messing with that," Sheryl said. She tugged Laura's elbow.

"I need to do this, Sheryl, I need to." She turned and looked the other in the eye. "This is something I need. Please."

"Why can't you just ask a teacher? Why do you _need_ to do this? Experimental magic? Why?" Sheryl's eyes didn't stay locked on Laura's, instead flickering to take in Laura's full expression.

"I can't tell you."

"What do you mean, you can't tell me?"

"I promised."

"Who could you possibly promise something to that you can't tell me?"

"It's important, Sheryl. I had to sign nondisclosure forms and everything for the government. I promised." Sheryl stared.

"The government."

"Yes, the American Muggle government."

"And why would they need you to be silent?"

"Because… because I was somewhere I shouldn't have been and I'm paying for it. I saw things that I'll never forget and the government doesn't want anyone to know about." Something changed in the way Sheryl looked at Laura, something about the eyes and how they widened or the mouth and how it opened slightly.

"Mission City. You were at Mission City."

"Yes and they didn't even want me to say that." Sheryl covered her mouth with her hand.

"I saw the pictures. They said it was a terrorist attack." Laura looked down at the open book in her hands and flipped to the beginning.

"It was. That's why I need to do this. If I can do something like wandless magic or… something, then I can do more than I did."

"What did you do?"

"I tried to save people." Sheryl didn't say anything as Laura looked through the Table of Contents.

"You need to talk to Madam Pomfrey."

"I can't. I promised."

"Then ask her for some type of potion. Laura, this is dangerous."

"So are a lot of things," Laura whispered. She watched as Sheryl took a seat and put her head in her hands.

"So what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to help."

"I will not help you kill yourself!" Sheryl was on her feet and advancing on Laura. "I will not help you die. I will not help you do this."

"Then don't. Leave. The door is right there."

"That's not what I meant."

"It's what you said." Laura didn't step away, even though Sheryl was closer than was comfortable. "I can't do this alone."

"Then ask a teacher!"

"They'll want to know why. I don't want them to know."

"Why not?"

"I just… It's something I want to do without them. Are you going to help me?"

"You'll do it anyway."

"I'd like to do it with you." Sheryl sighed.

"Fine, but we stop when I say so."

"In general or each day?"

"Both." Laura smiled and sat down.

"Deal. I'm going to read this first. Maybe what I'm looking for has already been done." She sat down and opened the book to the prologue.

"It's after curfew."

"Is it? Alright, we can sneak back. I can read this in the dorm." Sheryl nodded and they left the Room of Requirement, the book clutched to Laura's side. They didn't encounter anyone in the corridors, so they ran to decrease their risk. Filch could be anywhere.

The Common Room had a lot of people in it, some playing games like Wizard Chess and others bent over scrolls and books. A few looked up as they walked in, panting and laughing. They turned back to what they had been and didn't spare the two a second glance. The book was under Laura's robe, hidden from view, so it would not attract attention.

The dorm was empty; the other girls were elsewhere doing homework or bathing. Sheryl and Laura pulled out their school books, scrolls, and quills to do their homework. They were on the floor in from of the window with a Music Charm, bickering over how to do a certain Arithmancy problem.

"Laura?" Laura looked up and glanced around; it had been at least an hour since she had started her homework and now she was working her Divination Journal. A girl was standing in the doorway, glancing around the room.

"Here," she said. The girl's brows furrowed, but she found the other two with no problems.

"Um, I was told to tell you that Gregory McAllen is the leader of Hufflepuff." She shifted and fiddled with her hair, elbows tight against her body. Laura smiled at her.

"Thanks, Sarah." Sarah nodded and hurried out, closing the door behind her. Sheryl looked at Laura out of the corner of her eyes and Laura narrowed her own back. They didn't speak, just bent over their work and kept going.

It was another hour before they stopped working, finished, and went to bed. The Music Charm wasn't lifted, even when Darlene complained about it. Laura fell asleep listening to I Believe in You by Celine Dion and Il Divo.


	11. Chapter 11

The days flew by for Laura, a blur of class, homework, and resistance organizing. She and Gregory McAllen worked together to pick useful Defense spells and the best times and ways to teach them. Almost all of the Ravenclaws had come together and did their part. The few who didn't kept silent unless they were in the Common Room because even they realized that it was important to portray a strong front to the rest of the school. The Hufflepuffs were working harder than they ever had and the two Houses had never been so close.

Professor Umbridge was furious by this display. She took all of their House points away in one class period because the entirety of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs ignored her the entire time and did other homework instead. The other teachers had caught on and were providing the Houses with subtle help. Professor Flitwick would leave his classroom door unlocked and the room itself fully stocked with things to practice with. Professor McGonagall had given Laura tips on teaching and Professor Sprout had given Sheryl a Sneakoscope for their Defense practices.

In the midst of all of this, Laura still found the time to experiment with magic in the Room of Requirement with Sheryl, though Sheryl only supervised and did her homework. She was pleased to find that there were many spells in the first book she hadn't thought of, but would be exceedingly useful for the resistance against Professor Umbridge, such as new Cloaking Charms that caused eyes to focus on anything other than the target and Hearing Advancement Charms to listen for teachers coming.

The Room was providing books as she needed, though she couldn't figure out where it was getting them from. One of the books provided was dedicated to different forms of casting spells, such as wandless and voiceless spells. A few books had even shown up for Sheryl to help with her homework and a few Defense books had appeared for Laura when she had become overly frustrated.

Laura kept in constant correspondence with her family and with the Major. Her mother assured her they would make sure she would be home for Thanksgiving and Major Lennox had invited her to visit the base while she was in the country. He had even offered to send a jet for her and, when she protested, assured her that the government would be paying for it, not him.

Headmaster Dumbledore had agreed to send her home for the American holiday and the teachers were informed. They had already assured Laura that they would give her the entire week's assignments before she left, despite how much she insisted that it wasn't necessary.

She had made sure to select someone to take her place while she was gone a month in advance and made the announcement as soon as she was told. Anthony Goldstein, she was sure, would make a good substitute. He was smart, which meant he wouldn't make a mess of things. She had given him strict instructions to merely keep the plans in motion and not to start anything new.

The train left on Sunday morning from Hogwarts. Laura was the only one on it, but that was alright with her. After she got off at the Kings Cross Station, she took a bus to the airport, where her flight was scheduled. She had time to grab lunch before her train and she did. She was tempted to stop by Diagon Alley, but there was the risk of missing her flight.

She arrived back in the States on Monday. She had to take a few more planes before she arrived in Arkansas, Missouri where her parents were waiting to pick her up. There was much hugging and excitement when they greeted each other. The family had dinner at a small restaurant on the way to their home and arrived back late. Laura went to bed almost immediately after, a smile on her lips and a perfectly messy room.

The owl that dropped a letter doorstep disturbed no one and the letter was discovered the next morning by Mrs. Naitor.


	12. Chapter 12

The next day was grueling. Laura had all her least favorite classes all at once and only two classes she liked. At lunch, she found Gregory McAllen in the library and they spent the entire time there. They talked about the resistance: what they needed to do, how they would do it, and if they should let the other Houses in on it. In the end, they decided that passive-resistance would be a good start and they would learn Defense Against the Dark Arts without Professor Umbridge, they would not read the book in class and read it in the Common Rooms instead, and they would keep their wands on their desks no matter what the Professor said.

When she had gotten to the Common Room, she had a Silencing Spell cast and stood on the table. Blue sparks shot out of someone's wand with a loud bang and caught everyone's attention for Laura, who cast a charm to project her voice.

"Alright, I've spoken to the Hufflepuff leader, Gregory McAllen, and we've got a few ideas. We're not asking for soldiers or people to sacrifice themselves for the greater good, we're just asking for everyone to hang tight and stick together. The plan is to teach ourselves Defense Against the Dark Arts. We don't have to put our necks out for that one. The next two things require everyone or they will fail.

"I need everyone to do this together. The night before class, read the chapter Professor Umbridge will assign and refuse to read it in class. If she gives us a pop-quiz or test, we'll know the stuff, but we won't be obeying. The next is to keep your wands out. You don't have to have it in hand, you just need to have it on your desk." The reaction was mixed. Some people were nodding or yelling agreement and others were doing the opposite.

"What if we don't want to risk getting into trouble?" Laura couldn't figure out who said that.

"You won't be. House points only have as much power over us as we allow. If we do this as a House, Professor Umbridge can only punish us as a House by taking away points. What do the points matter? Ever since Harry Potter arrived, Headmaster Dumbledore has been showing favoritism to Gryffindor! They can't do anything if we lose points because that's their only weapon against us.

"You're either in or you're out. We do this as a House or we don't do anything at all. We can't fight the system alone, but we make a fourth of the school. If we fight back, we'll make a difference or an impression, at the least!"

"But we know it isn't the school, it's the Ministry! Umbridge is a Ministry Official sent to keep an eye on Dumbledore," said a boy Laura vaguely recognized.

"Ben is right! We're fighting the Ministry, not the school." That's right, his name was Benjamin Stokes and the other was James Bourgeois, his best friend.

"And what is the Ministry going to do? We're underage and we're not breaking any laws. Here, she isn't a Ministry Official, she's _Professor_ Umbridge. She can only do what the school allows her and that's only taking away House points. If it doesn't bother us, then she loses her only weapon against us," Laura said. Inside her bubbled up something she couldn't put into words, something that screamed she was right and it couldn't understand why they weren't listening to her. It was frustrated and she could feel herself growing desperate to say something to make them understand, something to make them listen.

The feeling burned hot for a moment, before dying out. She felt helplessness come over her. Most would not listen. They would pretend and then, when it mattered, flake out on her and stay safe. The pack would do what it had always done and one Fifth Year wasn't going to change that.

"What are we afraid of?" Sheryl said. The murmurs intensified. Laura thought about that. What were they afraid of? What held them back?

It didn't matter anyway. Laura was done and all she could do was hope they would follow as they had said they would. She left the spotlight by walking over to a chair by a window. If they refused to follow, then they would have to think for themselves and figure out what to do separately.

"That went well," Sheryl said as she sat opposite of Laura.

"You think so?"

"Yeah. You got most of their attention."

"I could see them looking at me and nodding, but I don't think they were really _listening_ the way I need them to."

"Can't have everything." Laura smiled.

"You can't always get what you want, but if you try real hard, you may just get what you need," Laura sang off-key. Sheryl giggled in response and they both set to watching the crowd before it became late and they retired to bed.


	13. Chapter 13

"Laura, breakfast!" Laura groaned and rolled onto her other side, arm thrown over her eyes. "There's tea!"

Laura rolled out of bed, hit the floor on hands and knees, and sprinted to the closet for her robe. She threw the soft blue robe on and slipped the fuzzy purple rabbits on her feet before shuffling out to the kitchen. She poured herself a cup of hot tea and filled her plate with biscuits before taking her seat between her parents.

"How did you sleep?" Mr. Naitor asked. Laura shrugged.

"Hard. Had a couple weird dreams, something about soap and broomsticks."

"Elbows off the table," Mrs. Naitor said and Laura complied. The two adults talked about what was going on that day as Laura ate her biscuits. "Oh, Laura, I almost forgot, you've got mail."

She handed Laura a letter and went back to talking with her husband. Laura opened and read the letter, still eating. She nodded at something before finishing off the last bite on her plate.

"Really good biscuits, Mom," Laura said. She got up from the table and went back to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for the day.

Laura spent the day relaxing with her family. They watched a movie from Blockbuster and did Chinese takeout for dinner. It was later that night when Laura thought about the letter again. She picked it up and reread it to refresh her memory of what was in it before taking it with her to the living room where her parents were.

"Hey, remember Mission City?" The two adults looked up and her father put his paper down while her mother turned down the TV volume.

"Yes, you weren't allowed to come home for the rest of the summer and we got a call from some government agency. Why?" Mr. Naitor said.

"Well, one of the majors invited me to check out a base because of it. They know I'm a witch, the Ministry apparently tells the Muggle governments what's going on and the American government told the agency."

"Why would you be asked to go to a military base?" Mrs. Naitor asked.

"I've been keeping in touch since Mission City and they want to see what kinds of spells would be effective against the robots. I was thinking it would be cool." Her parents looked at each other.

"We'll talk about it." Laura nodded, kissed them goodnight, and went to her room. She pulled out a Defense book the Room had given her and read herself to sleep. That night, she dreamt of Mission City.

_She was in Mission City, she knew she was, but it didn't look like it. The buildings were too tall and the streets were dirt roads. There were trees everywhere and the sky overhead was stormy. She was alone._

_There were explosions and people were everywhere. They were screaming and the streets had become rivers of blood. Everything was black in her peripheral and it was hard to see because everything was so dark. _

_The robot, Blackout, landed in front of her and began to shoot people. She spotted her wand a few feet away. She tried to make it go to her, but it wouldn't move, no matter how hard she tried. Someone tackled her from the side and knocked her out of the way of a volley of bullets._

_She turned to see who it was and what was happening. The man was dead, covered in blood, with his eyes wide and his open mouth full of blood. Blackout laughed. She screamed. A phone went off._

Laura opened her eyes and found that the phone was the only thing real. She was curled in a ball with the covers cocooned around her and her pillow somewhere not on the bed. She got up, retrieved her pillow from the floor, and lay back down with the covers at her feet. The phone stopped ringing after a few minutes of being ignored.

She did not close her eyes for the rest of the night.


	14. Chapter 14

I missed a whole section moving Laura from Hogwarts to her house, so Chapter 11 is new and everything is was pushed back. If it was actaully already posted and i just messed everything up, message me please. I'm really surprised no one pointed it out before.

* * *

The next morning, Laura's parents agreed to let her spend a few days on the military base. Laura called the major with the number he had put on the latest letter. He arranged for the jet to be at the airport for 2:00. Laura's parents talked to him after that and Laura was shooed away.

She was told she would only be staying a few days; she would have to be home for Thanksgiving. Her parents were still uncertain about Laura being around the same beings that had so thoroughly wrecked Mission City. Laura wasn't sure why they had agreed, but it may have been because they knew her magic had an effect on them.

Either way, Laura had her things packed by 1:00. She had packed her Muggle clothes and one witch robe. She was bringing some of her school books, plus the books the Room had given her for experimental magic. She had received a letter from the Ministry authorizing her to use magic, so long as it was done with caution and out of sight from the general Muggle public. She was also not to tell anyone at school she had been given this privilege.

Both her parents went with her to the airport to say goodbye. Her mother gave Laura a bag lunch to take with her and her father gave her an advance on her allowance. The airport was a rush of military men and curious passerby. It wasn't until she had flopped into a seat on the jet did everything shift into focus.

The jet was small, intended only for private use, but it was not empty. In the seat across from her were Major Lennox and another man next to him. A soldier sat in another aisle near them.

"Hey, Laura." Laura smiled and nodded at Major Lennox.

"Hello, Ms. Naitor." Laura glanced at Major Lennox.

"Hi. You would be...?"

"Ah, I am Jacob Russings, the new official of the Nonbiological Extraterrestrial Department on base."

"Mm. So, Major, how've you been?"

"Fine. We've been having a hell of a time cleaning up Mission City."

"Still? I thought that was sorted out months ago."

"There are still those who would believe the government is to blame," said Mr. Russings.

"Aren't they?" Mr. Russings narrowed his eyes.

"I am not sure I understand your meaning."

"Well, the government is trying to cover the whole thing up, yes? And the government is hiding the same beings who killed all those people, yes?"

"No. The Autobots didn't kill any-" Laura interrupted Major Lennox.

"And yet, they were the reason the Decepticons were there in the first place."

"We've been over this. The Decepticons would have been there anyway, the Autobots just minimized the damage."

"Not true. The Decepticons would have been on the planet, I'll give you that, but they would not have been in Mission City."

"And why do you think that?" Mr. Russings asked.

"Simple. If the Cube hadn't been taken to Mission City, the Decepticons would not have been there. The Autobots knew that the Decepticons would attack, they should have taken the Cube out into the desert where no one would have been hurt."

"I've already admitted that it was a mistake."

"And I agreed with you. I'm just saying that Mission City didn't have to happen."

"Well, I am sure that everyone will agree that Mission City shouldn't have happened, but-"

"No buts. There was nothing to be gained from putting people in danger for no reason."

"We were trying to hide the Cube in the city," Major Lennox said. Laura seemed to be the only one relaxed, sitting back and at ease. Mr. Russings was tensed and Major Lennox was leaning forward.

"You were trying to hide the Cube in the city. Right, because it wasn't already established that you need football fields worth of concrete to hide it from outer space."

"That's not fair."

"I get that humans would make a mistake like that, but I don't see where advanced alien robots could. They worshiped the thing and yet they forgot that there was radiation that the Decepticons would notice. They swear that they are trying to protect human life, yet they have already shown a willingness to sacrifice it for their own means." Major Lennox flickered his eyes from Laura's to Mr. Russings.

"I agree completely. The Autobots are dangerous and need to be contained." Laura narrowed her eyes.

"That was not what I was saying. The Autobots are either a disguised version of the Decepticons or they are more human than we first thought. They made the same mistake the humans made, they made the same rash decision the humans made. They are either extremely good liars or they are more human than we give them credit for."

"You just sat here and took them apart."

"No, I just sat here and told you one of the military's worst mistakes. If they were, in fact, Decepticons, they would have acted against us long ago. I don't think I quite heard what you did."

"I have been assigned with the task of evaluating the risk of the Autobots." Laura flickered her gaze to Major Lennox for a second and had the sinking feeling she had just done irreparable damage.

"Just the risk? There are... pros to having them."

"Pros? Are you referring to their technology? They refuse to share it with us."

"I don't blame them, but that's not what I was talking about. The Decepticon army is bound to be larger than what we've seen. They're probably just scattered across the universe, but we've made ourselves their enemies. The Autobots are our best bet for protection." Major Lennox relaxed a bit. "You've not said anything, Major. What's your take?"

"That's what I've been saying. We need the Autobots." Mr. Russings switched from watching Laura to looking at the two of them.

"Buckle your seatbelts, we're about to begin landing." Laura blinked before trying to buckle up and finding she had never unbuckled. The men across from her did their seatbelts.

"So, Major, how's, um, Sarah and...?"

"Sarah and Annabelle are doing fine."

"Must be nice to finally get to see your kid."

"It was. They don't live on base."

"Right, I'd forgotten. Ironhide?"

"He's good. The shooting range was one of the first things we got set up for the Autobots, right after Ratchet's medical facility." Laura nodded.

"Where will I be staying, again?"

"You'll be separated from the rest of the soldiers. You'll actually be sharing a corridor with Mr. Russings here. We've got separate quarters for the government officials and there is an empty room for you."

"Awesome."

"What happened to your owl?"

"School's owl. Students are allowed to use them, but I don't have the money to get my own. That and my mom doesn't actually like birds, so I wouldn't be able to keep it even if I bought one."

"You never did tell me how owls deliver mail. The letters didn't even have an address on them."

"The owls are mail owls, trained to deliver to the person whose name is on the letter or package. Just put it down to magic and you'll be alright." There was a slight bump as the plane landed.

"Magic." Mr. Russings leaned forward again. Laura glanced at Major Lennox.

"You haven't been told?"

"He has, he just doesn't believe it." Laura narrowed her eyes at Mr. Russings.

"Doesn't believe it." She paused for a moment before relaxing. "Looks like my taxes to the Ministry is going to work after all. Really, it's ridiculous. My family has to pay taxes to the American government and to the Ministry for as long as I go to school in Scotland."

"Ministry?"

"Really, what are they telling you? The Ministry of Magic, it's in charge of the Wizarding World. They've been hiding our existence from Muggles for years. Of course, the higher ups of the Muggle governments are informed of our existence because of... certain dangers that are not bound by the limits of magical and nonmagical."

"And what does that mean?" Major Lennox asked. "You've never really said much about your Ministry."

"The Ministry makes sure that any nonmagical people who see magic don't remember it. It is a completely harmless process and only the memory of the magic is wiped, leaving everything else untouched. Because the spell can damage all memories, it is only performed by experts. I'm assuming that's where part of my taxes go and I'm hoping the rest goes to the Aurors."

"Aurors? Are those the dangers?" Mr. Russings was startled when Laura began to laugh. There was no time to answer him because the plane had docked and it was time to leave the jet. Laura reached for her carry-on bag, which held her phone, money, and a spell book, but it was already in the hands of Major Lennox.

"Ladies first." He gestured graciously to the empty aisle. Laura grinned and darted out in from of him and walked quickly to the exit. Outside, it was hot with lots of sand and the sound of the ocean not far off. There was a car waiting for them and Laura half suspected that it was an Autobot.

"The base is over there, we didn't want to make you walk the whole runway," Major Lennox said from behind her. Laura glanced at him before looking in the direction he nodded at. Then she felt silly because the base, as far as she could see, consisted of large warehouses.

"I could always just fly. Well, actually I couldn't because I don't have a broomstick, but anyway."

"You would rather walk?"

"Absolutely not, but I can't help but wonder if the car is also for the benefit of Mr. Russings and not just poor ole me." Major Lennox laughed.

"Smart."

"I would hope so. I did pass my exams last year with Exceeds Expectations and one Outstanding. Outstandings are like 'A's and Exceeds Expectations are like 'B's," she added at his look. Mr. Russings came up beside them and they went to the car.

"What are Aurors?" Mr. Russings asked as soon as the car doors closed. Laura looked upward and chewed her lip for a moment. Major Lennox glanced at her in the review mirror.

"Aurors are like the police. They're a part of the Ministry, trained to fight Dark wizards and to protect us. They're the ones making sure Muggles don't remember anything about magic should they be exposed to it." Mr. Russings furrowed his brow and Laura could see that she was going to be sitting there all day. Major Lennox beat him to the punch, however.

"Muggles a wizard word?" Laura looked at him blankly, not quite understanding, before she realized what he meant.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. It's the word for nonmagical people. I'm so used to it now that I forgot I hadn't used it with you before. It's not an insult, if that's what you're wondering. In fact, it's the word the Ministry uses, so it's kinda like the politically correct term." They reached the warehouse and Laura glanced outside the window just in time to see the end of a transformation of a black and white motorcycle.

"Who's he?" she asked, nodding out the window. "Actually, who's all the new guys? I haven't seen half o' them."

"New arrivals. I'll introduce you." Major Lennox held her door open and she slipped out with Mr. Russings right behind her, though the Major didn't wait for him. She followed him over to the line of vehicles, staying slightly behind him and fiddling with her wand though she didn't know when it had left her pocket.

They were impressive. Still, silent, and somehow intimidating, the Autobots didn't transform right away. Major Lennox pointed to each one that Laura didn't know and named them. The black and white cop motorcycle was Prowl, a silver Audi was Sideswipe, a green compact car was Skids and an orange one was Mudflap, and a blue Chevy Volt was Jolt. They transformed after their introduction, along with the Autobots that had been in Mission City. Laura nodded to them and twirled her wand a little bit faster.

"Yo, who'th the new kid?" Mudflap asked. He moved closer to the humans and Laura leaned away slightly.

"This is Laura Naitor, the new emissary from the Ministry of Magic." Laura started and stared at Major Lennox.

"They didn't tell me that. I was told to find out how effective magic is against Transformers. While I don't intend to start hexing anyone, I am supposed to try a few charms to see the effect." Prowl narrowed his optics, but Ironhide spoke before him.

"I don't like the idea of you humans trying to find weapons against us." Laura opened her mouth, then closed it.

"This doesn't look good, I'll give you that, but we have to know. Not all of you are for peace and we have to be able to defend ourselves. Besides, this is our planet. You could very well be seen as invaders."

"We are not trying to conquer your world," Optimus Prime said. She shook her head.

"And who's to say you're not?" Mr. Russings asked. Optimus drew himself up and Ironhide took a step forward.

"They've done nothing but protect us since they got here!" Major Lennox was clearly aggravated with this question.

"We did not come here to take your world," Optimus Prime said. Laura took a step closer to the Autobots.

"No, you didn't, but that doesn't mean the Decepticons didn't. That's what the Ministry is concerned about. The Decepticons are clearly hostile and there are too few Autobots to save the day every day. The Wizarding World has to be able to defend itself and the Muggles that are close to it." Mr. Russing opened his mouth, but Laura put her hand up to stop him. "Look, I know you want to be safe rather than sorry, but you're taking this too far. I agree that it would be preferable if they all just left, but that's not possible while the Decepticons refuse to."

"_Thank_ you, now if we all just calm down for a second we all have something we need to do." Major Lennox was walking into a mine field and Laura tensed a bit more. However, Mr. Russings subsided and Laura breathed out the stress she didn't know she had been collecting.

"Indeed. There is something that requires your attention, Major." Major Lennox furrowed his brows at Optimus Prime for a moment before his face cleared.

"Right. I'll just show Ms. Naitor to her room first." The Autobot nodded and turned away. Everyone turned to their own conversations or duties. Mr. Russings bid Laura goodbye and left by a door on the opposite side of the warehouse. Laura and Major Lennox left the same way after he gave Sergeant Epps a few instructions.

They walked through a few enormous rooms filled with people in cubicles before reaching smaller corridors. It was a bit longer before they reached a hall that was subtly different from the others in the space between the doors and in the lighting. They stopped in front of another uniform door.

"This is your room," Major Lennox said as he opened the door. Inside, there were only the basic furniture and nothing else. A bed, a dresser with a mirror, and a desk with a lamp were all that were in the room. The walls were smooth concrete and the floor was the same.

"It's empty," Laura said as she looked around the room. Major Lennox shrugged.

"It's clean, though." It was true, as far as Laura could see; there was no dust on anything, though the grey of the covers could be hiding it. The room didn't smell and there was sufficient light to see that there weren't any glaringly obvious drawbacks to the room.

"Hey, would I be allowed to throw a rug on the floor or anything? It's gonna be a pain to deal with cold concrete in the morning."

"If you can find one. I've got to get going, feel free to explore; you've got full clearance. I'll send someone to find you to show you to the mess hall in an hour."

"I'll probably be in here." Major Lennox nodded as he closed the door behind him. Laura put her stuff down on the bed and placed her wand on the dresser. She sat down and started going through her schoolbag. She stopped and looked at her wand.

"Accio wand." It flew into her hand. She paused for a moment before looking at it. Why did she have to say 'Accio wand'? What would she do if she had to summon an object she didn't know the name of? Would it still come to her? Would anything happen?

She groaned. It all came back to the beginning of the whole problem. What was magic? How did it work? With the Patronus charm, the caster didn't have to concentrate on what they wanted to summon, they had to focus on their happiest memories. So did that mean that magic was all about intent? Then again, magic had its own rigid rules; granted, no one could figure them out, but they were there. Perhaps… perhaps she didn't have to say 'Accio wand'. Maybe all she had to say was 'Accio'…


	15. Chapter 15

**Alright, so it's been a while. In my defense, I'd been doing NaNoWriMo and it took a lot out of me. The other thing was I'd lost my way in this story and I think I'm discovering it again. Also, I seem to be having trouble developing a plot or a climax to build to. Any suggestions or something they'd like this story to build up to in particular? I'm in desperate need of reviews and help. I have some sketchy plans for Laura's development, but that's all. Please? Help?**

Like Major Lennox had said, a soldier arrived in an hour to show Laura the way to the mess hall. By that time, she had only managed to summon two items without saying their names. There was a little sweat on her forehead and she was breathing heavily. A notebook beside her was filled with scribble-scratches that weren't always following the ruled lines.

The mess hall wasn't far away from where her room. It was a few corridors over and was obvious in its placement. Laura was sure she could find her way on her own; if she couldn't, she could always try out that new finding charm Sheryl was so excited about. The room itself was large, filled with long tables and plastic chairs. There was what looked like a buffet line at the other end of the room and, though there were many people already with food, there was still quite a line.

Laura moved to get into line and prepared herself for a wait. She had chosen the shorter line and could only hope that the food was something she wanted to eat. Despite her misgivings, the line moved fairly quickly. It wasn't too long before she had made her way to the food and had a plate full of potatoes and chicken. She hesitated, trying to find an open space to take a seat. Waving motion caught her attention from a few tables over. She made her way over to Major Lennox and sat in the seat next to him.

"Thanks." He smiled and laughed slightly.

"You were looking a little lost there." She smiled back.

"I kinda was. So what'd I miss?"

"Nothing really. There was a supposed Decepticon over in Russia, but it turned out to be a false alarm. We're still not sure what caused all the destruction, though." Laura froze for a moment.

"What kind of destruction?" She had the sinking feeling that she already knew.

"Trashed bridges, buildings collapsing, that sort. A lot of people were killed." Laura took a few more bites of chicken.

"I can tell you it wasn't Decepticons." Major Lennox looked at her sharply.

"Then what was it?" Laura shook her head.

"I'll explain later. If you haven't been told yet, then now would probably be a bad time. I've just gotten a really awesome privilege from the Ministry and I want to enjoy it a little longer." Major Lennox gave her a reproving look that had no effect on her smile. "Anyway, when can I…?"

He didn't seem to approve of the topic change but he didn't fight her on it.

"We can try out the magic theory tomorrow morning. Ironhide volunteered. He said something about testing your defenses." Laura laughed.

"He won't get much of a challenge. I'm still in school and the Defense class this year has been censored, so all we're supposed to do is read the theories."

"Oh? What happened?" Laura smiled and began to tell him all about the Ravenclaws' rebellion. The dinner passed like that; they took bites while the other was talking and the conversation flowed easily from one point to another.

Laura finished eating before Major Lennox, but she stayed and talked with him for a while. She deliberately avoided talking about the Ministry and Decepticons as well as whatever she thought had caused the destruction in Russia.

They stayed like that with Commander Epps and a few other officers joining in when the topic had strayed to places they could understand and contribute. It was about an hour and a half since dinner had started that Laura realized just how tired she was. Her eyes kept wanting to close and she was listening more than talking.

"Alright, I'm going to turn in. No, don't get up; I know the way back to my room. What time should I be up tomorrow?"

"We're going to try to do the experiment at eight. There should be an alarm clock in your room." Laura nodded and tried to remember if she had seen the alarm clock. She made her way to her room after excusing herself from the others at the table. When she got there, she grabbed her toiletries, but paused and realized that she didn't know where to shower. She hesitated and glanced at the door before drawing her wand.

"Locus," she said and her wand instantly twirled in her hand to point to the bathroom. Laura walked out to the hallway and kept an eye on her wand while trying to find passages that led in the correct direction. A few soldier glanced at her on the way, but she didn't stop to ask for directions.

She had a few false turns, but it was a game for her. The base had become a maze for her. Good natured curiosity and interest had replaced most of the fatigue and so when she finally found the showers, she was more proud than tired. Showers were line up in a row, at least ten of them, with two shower curtains for privacy. Laura chose one about halfway down the line and went about her shower.

The water was cold at first and heated slowly. Laura, agitated and shivering, had an idea. Her wand flew into her hand, but she paused before casting. What incantation would she have to use? Hogwarts had not taught her that and she rather doubted that the Charms class would teach her how to heat up a shower. Did that mean it was not possible? Or did it mean that the incantation was out there, just not available to her?

Anger and frustration washed through her, accompanied with an extra hard shiver. At the end of her patience and fed up with being stumped, Laura waved her wand at the shower head. Immediately, the water went from freezing to boiling.

With a yelp, Laura jumped out of the shower instinctively and got her clothes waiting on the floor between the curtains wet. Her charm had worked. The water had heated up, but far too hot for her likely and the inventor in her had wondered why it had gotten so hot rather than comfortable. A glance at the temperature-control knob told her she had turned the water to as hot as she could to try to make it heat up faster.

So, the magic had heated the water to exactly the temperature she had demanded from the Muggle devise. Now there was the problem of getting to the knob without burning herself. She tried to think of a way to maneuver to do it manually before it occurred to her to try to magic again. But how to make it specific? Wouldn't she need an incantation for something so specific?

A vague idea on how to do it occurred to her and again she raised her wand, but hesitated. People had blown themselves up playing around with experimental ideas. Laura had no way of knowing if this was one of the dangerous ones or not. Not desiring to blow her arm off, Laura angled and twisted until she managed to turn down the water temperature to warm. Immediately, with no transition temperatures, the water was what she had set it for. The charm was holding.

Satisfied and greatly pleased, Laura stepped under the water. For the rest of the shower, she tried to think of different ways she could have turned the knob with magic.


	16. Chapter 16

**I think I've found the plot, or at least something that will do for it. I thank everyone who reviewed with ideas and help and people who just wanted to give some support. You people have no idea how much you helped me. You also have no idea how hard it was to not blow Laura up at the end of the last chapter. She was really pushing it. **

**To roudyredd: I thank you for the suggestion, really I do, but her mom would kill her if she came home with a bird. Laura's mom absolutely can't stand birds, not even owls. Her dad has to be the one who deals with the mail owl when Laura sends a letter. **

**These AN's probably won't happen much after this one, but thanks to everyone who read it and was like, 'I read the stupid thing so lets get on with the story' for at least reading the bold print. Here's to NaNoWriMo for making longer chapters possible and less intimidating to write!**

Laura collapsed on her bed as soon as she had changed into her night gown. Instead of playing maze again, she had gotten directions back to her room. She was tired from the day and from her magic attempts. When she fell asleep, her last thought was that Sheryl was not going to be pleased that she had been experimenting without her supervision. Her dreams, unfortunately, were not nearly so pleasant.

_She dreamed of Hogwarts, except that everything was wrong. Like all dreams, everything was distorted in that things were not where they were supposed to be, but she understood anyway. The Great Hall was full of people eating and laughing. All around them there were shadows and Laura knew they were Dementors, waiting for their chance. _

_At the teachers table, all the seats were taken by hidden figures with blood underneath them. A snakelike man sat in Headmaster Dumbledore's seat and Laura understood immediately. The Death Eaters were in control of classes and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had taken the post of Headmaster. Laura looked up._

_Above the heads of everyone were the dead teachers. They were suspended in limp positions, as if they had been thrown there carelessly. The centerpiece of the display, however, was Headmaster Dumbledore crucified like in Roman times. _

_The world changed before Laura had the chance to scream and the dream faded into the background. Now she was in the Ministry of Magic, in front of Minister Fudge himself, and surrounded by Aurors with their wands drawn and pointed at her. Minister Fudge was angry. Sheryl stood behind him._

"_Experimentation outside of Ministry approval is illegal. Your sentence is to have your wand confiscated and snapped and five years in Azkaban." Behind him, Sheryl made no indication that she cared. Her face was blank. Laura thought it might have been her that had told the Ministry._

"_Sheryl! Help me, Sheryl! Don't let them take my wand. I have to keep my wand. Sheryl?" There was still no response from Sheryl and the Aurors came forward and took her wand from her. Laura's muscles were frozen and she could only watch in horror as-_

A screeching noise emitted from her pillow. Laura shot off of it, tangled her legs in the blankets, and fell to the hard floor. The screech did not stop until Laura realized it was her alarm clock charm she had cast the night before and canceled it with her summoned wand. Someone banged on her door.

"Are you alright?" The voice was concerned, almost alarmed, and Laura thought that she should have perhaps turned down the volume before scaring soldiers on their base.

"I'm fine, just the alarm clock," she called, trying to disentangle her legs. The person at the door did not want to just take it at that.

"May I come in?" He did not sound convinced that it was only an alarm clock. Laura called her assent through from her still trapped position and unlocked the door with a simple Unlocking Charm. Hearing the click of the lock, the soldier opened the door and glanced over the room. "I heard something fall. I assume that was you?"

"Yeah, probably, sorry." She smiled and felt her face heat up slightly. He did not smile in return, only nodded.

"Excuse me, ma'am." He left the room, closing the door behind him. Laura swore to herself to cast a Silencing Charm on the room that night before bed. After re-locking the door, Laura managed to escape the clutches of the witch-eating blankets and began to start her day. She dressed light, planning on the hot desert day, but comfortable. With the exertion it had proven to be, she wanted to be comfortable when getting her version of a workout.

She asked for directions when she got out, fifteen minutes later. The bathroom was not hard to find, but she was not the most directionally gifted, even with her experience with Hogwarts. She finished her morning toiletries, put her things in her luggage, and asked for directions to the Autobots' hanger.

Instead of just getting directions, one of the female soldiers escorted her personally. From the looks she was getting, Laura assumed it was because the soldier did not really believe she belonged and did not want her wondering the base unsupervised. With what was actually on the base, Laura could not blame her in the least.

The hanger was the one she had arrived in at first. This time, the Autobots were not in vehicle mode. Rather, they were all doing something, whether it was talking to some humans, fiddling with a piece of metal, or talking to each other. The Autobots did not take much notice of her when she entered the hanger, but Major Lennox did. He went up to her and her escort, dismissed the soldier, and took Laura over to the large black Transformer.

Ironhide was in conversation with Prowl when they walked up. Laura was able to identify the newcomer by his coloring and build. They stopped when the two humans approached, Major Lennox walking ahead of Laura. Despite her knowledge that she was perfectly safe, her wand was in her hands and twirling quickly in her fingers.

"Ready, Ironhide?" Major Lennox said, though Laura noticed he said it louder than he would have talking to a human. She wondered how sharp the hearing receptors were. The wand twirled a little faster for a moment before settling into a doable pace.

"Took your sweet time," Ironhide grumbled. The wand sped up before resuming its pace again. The black Autobot transformed into his vehicle mode and popped the two front doors open. Laura went to the passenger side when she saw Major Lennox move for the driver's door.

"So what we'll be doing is testing to see how magic will affect Transformers. The best place for it will be in the shooting range. There's enough space for us to do it without getting anyone else involved and the range's purpose is for the testing of new weapons," said Major Lennox. Laura's eyes shot over to him. Since she had gotten into the Transformer, the wand had picked up considerable speed.

"Is that what magic is to you?" Major Lennox blinked and furrowed his brows. His hands rested lightly on the steering wheel as if he were pretending to drive.

"What?"

"Is magic only a weapon to you?" The grey in her eyes seemed to become more steel-like and cold rather than normal the rainy-day grey. Major Lennox stared at her, something she was sure he would not do if he was actually driving.

"It is a weapon, I assumed. That's what we're about to find out." He looked at her like it was the simplest answer in the world. To him, it probably was. Laura mused on his answer and found she could not justify the Muggle's view. Even Aurors knew that magic was not a weapon, it was a way of life that defined the user in almost every way.

She did not answer him nor did she talk to him for the rest of the ride. A few times, he tried to engage her in conversation, but gave up when she refused to acknowledge him. The ride was long enough for her point to have been made, but short enough that it did not create any sort of lasting grudge or conflict. For that, Laura was grateful.

The shooting range was filled with people, most of them shooting at targets, some preparing their guns, and others observing the rest. A rare few Autobots were in there as well and, from the pleased sound Ironhide's engine made, Laura had no doubt this was where Ironhide was generally to be found. The doors popped open as soon as Ironhide had rolled to a complete stop in a cleared area surrounded by white chalk on the ground.

Laura and Major Lennox both got out and Laura felt herself leaving her anger and hard feelings in Ironhide's cabin. Major Lennox obviously did not know this from the way he held himself as if unsure how to proceed now that Laura had been alienated against the experiment.

"So how are we doing this?" Laura asked. Major Lennox relaxed, but it was Ironhide that answered.

"We'll see what spells will work on me," he growled out. Laura almost thought he did not growl or grumble on purpose, that it was just his vocals, but his manner was enough to keep that just a thought rather than an opinion. He moved to give them room before transforming. Laura stopped her wand from twirling by holding it firmly in her hand and instead tried not to allow her wand hand to shake

"Alright, um, stupefy," Laura said, waving her wand. The jet of red light hit the Autobot, who flinched, but did nothing more. Ironhide was untouched by the stunning spell. "Hang on, I'll think of another that might work better."

"You didn't have spells thought out already?" Major Lennox asked and Laura gave him a look.

"Yes, because I always go around thinking of ways to incapacitate my allies. Confundo." Again, the spell had no effect on the Transformer and Laura began to relax. "It may be the spells I'm trying. Bombarda."

The spell was colorless, but its passing was felt. When it hit Ironhide, it threw him off his feet, damaging his chassis where it had hit in the process. In the explosive sound the spell made, a startled soldier who had been aiming at the target turned toward the noise even as his finger tightened on the trigger. There was no one between him and Laura.

Laura had turned to the sound of the gunshot, which was delayed considering how everyone else had froze as soon as the spell had been cast. She turned toward it and time slowed. Except that it did not, not really. Her body still moved as slowly as everything else, but her mind was racing and it had all taken on a dream-like quality in that her control over her body was no longer immediate.

She could see the bullet going right toward her, her eyes being able to move fast enough to see it almost halfway there. She would not be able to so much as lift her wand fast enough, much less utter an incantation. Her fear was both overwhelming and something that did not apply to her. Behind her, her mind noted, Major Lennox stood and if she moved, he would be hit. In front of her, the bullet seemed to move toward her at jogging speed.

Her life did not flash before her eyes; she assumed that would happen when she was on the ground, dying. Wandless magic was possible and so was silent magic. Was it possible for them to go together, even for someone as inexperienced as her? The bullet had not stopped moving. It was too close now, no more time for thinking, and Laura's panic overrode everything.

Fear started the magic, but her intent directed it. A large burst of it did not shoot toward the speeding bullet like a spell from a wand, it simply happened. The bullet vanished out of the air. For what seemed like thirty seconds, Laura stood there and breathed and tried to understand what was now happening. Everyone around her were still reacting to the shot, reaching out to her to pull her out the way, screaming at her to move. She could not hear them over the rushing in her ears.

And then she was back in real time. It was like a jolt. Her slow, leisurely breathing was loud, gasping, and quick. She fell to her knees, her body unable to respond to all the commands her mind was and had been trying to give it while it had been unable to react. People finally reached her, but they had not been had the time to comprehend that the bullet had vanished.

The sounds that had been suspended flooded her and the slow reaction her body had been having was gone and replaced with adrenaline. She felt like she could not breathe and the people crowding her and shouting were not helping. After a few minutes, some sort of order was established, people forced back to give her room and a few soldiers kneeling around her, trying to see what her condition was. The soldier who had fired was trying to explain it was an accident even as he was being shouted at.

"I'm okay," Laura gasped out, even though she was sure it sounded more authoritative in her head. Major Lennox tried to find the bullet hole.

"What happened? Where are you hit?" He sounded scared, but could not find the blood he knew had to be there.

"I'm not. Managed to stop it." Her breathing was still out of control, but the adrenaline was wearing out of her system. As it went, so did the screams that she was realizing were not in the real world. That frightened her even as she pushed it away.

With everyone crowded around her, things started to fade out. Sounds began to lessen and her awareness began to dim around the edges. The adrenaline leaving her bloodstream was taking her strength and the shock. She fell unconscious even as she tried to hold on and explain or at least show she was alive. There was no moment of creeping darkness, only one moment awake and losing the battle against sudden fatigue and the next was a sort of rest.


End file.
